


The Cold of Others

by Kapla_Quail



Category: Vampire Hunter D (Anime & Manga), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Blood Drinking, Breastfeeding, Crossover Pairings, Half-Vampires, Idiots in Love, Kid Fic, M/M, Magic, Mommy Issues, Trans Male Character, Wolf Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya, and momma's boys, but not as a kink, neckfast club, sad boys, there's also a baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24837730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kapla_Quail/pseuds/Kapla_Quail
Summary: D knows that despite their fervent love affair, Alucard has never quite forgotten Trevor and Sypha. This becomes clear all the more when unexpectedly, four distressed Belmont-children knock on the castle door, and the two dhampirs have to figure out a way to care for them and bring their missing parents back...
Relationships: Alucard (Castlevania)/D (Vampire Hunter D), Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/D (Vampire Hunter D)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [An Indulgence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618772) by [BlatantlyQueer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlatantlyQueer/pseuds/BlatantlyQueer). 



> This was the story that introduced me to the pairing Alucard/D, and what shall I say - I completely fell for it. I loved the dynamics of Alucard and D there, and somehow it made me wish to see them in an established relationship because I realized that these two sad boys could do each other so much good...
> 
> I know I took great freedom concerning the fandom lore, I can only hope this doesn't repel you.
> 
> And as always, constructive criticism is much appreciated. Please leave a comment!

It was a quiet night in Wallachia. The ruins of Dracula's castle rose up drearily against an inky sky, and with its many collapsed towers and broken walls, the gothic structure looked derelict and abandoned. The impression was incorrect, though.

In the crypt of the building D, the famous vampire hunter, was sitting on the edge of a dark stone coffin whose lid he had carefully slid aside. The large vault was shred in darkness, but being a half-vampire, a dhampir, himself, D had no problems seeing whether it was day or night. The creature sleeping in said coffin appeared to him as clearly as in his dreams, unmoved and unchanged since he had last seen it, and D let out a relieved breath.

D was paying his visit to Adrian. And as always when he happened to come by his castle, he was unable to stop himself from looking at this beloved, angelic face at least once during the stay. He was well aware that this urge was nothing but foolish. Adrian had never asked this of him, had never asked him to return or to care. But some force D didn't want to call by its name drew him back to this tomb again and again to ascertain the other dhampir was sleeping undisturbed.

To provide some excuse, D kept telling himself that Adrian never needed to find out about it anyway. In his current state he couldn't notice if he was alone or not. Rigid, cold, virtually frozen, Adrian lay on his silken pillows for what would be twelve years this winter, hands folded peacefully over his unmoving, white-clad chest. Nothing indicated that he was even still alive; he slept like a tall, beautiful alabaster doll. And this sight had become familiar to D by now.

The hunter didn't dare to touch the other man. It was not that he couldn't remember that once he had done so, how beguiling it had felt, what unexpected bliss this contact had brought. In his loneliest nights, D squirmed still, aching for this feeling that had been completely foreign to him before Adrian came into his life. But the distance of years separating him from the deliberate touch of a lover had brought D back to the conviction that such intimacy was and had to be forbidden to him. Without Adrian's explicit consent, he could never, would never initiate it. He would never approach this immaculate face with his odious claws and befoul it with the touch of a monster.

Twelve years had passed since Adrian had decided to retreat into regenerative slumber, and this, a dhampir's way of living considered, was a decision one had to welcome. Time was nothing that mattered for their kind, nothing that needed to be regarded. Lacking any sort of purpose, what better way of sparing humanity the burden of their presence was there other than a voluntary disappearance?

D, however, had decided against such a retreat. Condemned to be a vampire hunter, his fate was to make himself useful to humanity by roaming the continents, fighting evil creatures in order to ultimately free the population. These were selfish motives, of course. But Adrian had understood them. Noble soul that he was, he had never complained, never begged D to change his ways. They had separated not because their love had ceased, but because they both had agreed on the necessity of making their own decisions in life. Looking at the sleeping Adrian now, D wondered if it could have been different, if their fate was different. If they weren't dhampirs.

“It's a damn waste a beauty like him lies here hidden, only for your unfeeling eyes to see”, D's left hand murmured spitefully. The parasite living there was as fond of talking as D was of keeping silent. It had taken hundreds of years for each of them to become accustomed to the other, but such a companionship, D had to acknowledge, was one of the few possible ones for a dhampir, and this one, too, he had grown to love in his own way.

“There was no purpose for him in remaining awake”, D whispered. He kept looking at Dracula's beautiful son for some time still, kept staring at his lovely blond hair. Had this wonder of nature really touched and loved him, he wondered? Maybe he had dreamt all of it. But then, Left Hand nagged him about it, so he had seen it, too, felt it, too...

Sighing, D eventually rose and bent over the coffin to carefully rearrange the lid. While he pulled, his voluminous black cloak fell over his shoulder and covered the sleeping dhampir like a warm blanket. Adrian had always liked to envelop himself in the heavy garment. At the same time he had also usually tended to make fun of D's hat.

'Sleep well, Adrian', D thought, letting his eyes wander for a last time over those sculpted, frozen features. Then he put him to rest again.

D turned and left the crypt with slow, drawn-out steps. The only noise he heard was the usual slight howling of the wind in these cold hallways, the clicking of his steps and the billowing of his black coat. As soon as he had closed the crypt door behind him, however, there was something else in the air.

In a split second, D had drawn his longsword from behind his back and risen to float near the ceiling.

“Did you hear that? What's this?”, Left Hand asked, superfluously.

“Humans”, D whispered. “Several.”

“Who dares to come into Dracula's castle these times? Looters? There's nothing left to steal!”

D made haste to fly towards the grand central staircase to have a look. He did so noiselessly, his cloak swirling around him like bat's wings until he came to a halt. The whole castle lay in absolute darkness: only the slit of the now open front door let in a cone of light that fell unto the intruders. D, slightly bent over the banister, froze.

“Kids?”, Left Hand gasped.

He was right. On the bottom of the stairs, D could distinguish three ragged little humans. The tallest was doubtlessly a girl, although short-haired, wearing a torn skirt and carrying a bundle over her shoulder. By means of a little flame burning on her left forefinger, she lit her surroundings. A child magician?

Next to her were two younger boys, holding each other by the hands, visibly terrified. They had short, reddish hair, just like their sister.

“We're not alone here”, D heard the girl mumble. Apparently she could sense his presence. Interesting.

“Count Alucard?”, one boy asked into the darkness, dolefully. “Are you there?”

“Hush!”, he was silenced by his sister. They hesitated. Then the little group set about mounting the broad stairs.

This was the moment they noticed D. The hunter slowly descended towards them, in his full attire with hat, cloak and sword. He did his best to appear unfrightening, but he couldn't help his looks and his height, and of course the boys shrieked, in danger of falling down the stairs in their panic. Then they just blankly stared at him. Apparently they understood that he was _not_ the person they had come to meet. 

D stopped and blinked slowly. “Who are you?”, he asked, as gently as possible.

“W-where is count Alucard?” The girl's voice was shrill out of plain fear. D could understand.

“He is sleeping. Who are you?”

D could see her skinny shoulders shake, could see her vacillate between the will to flee, the will to fight and the will to trust. “Oana, Adrian, Marian and Aurika Belmont, sir.”

This answer contained three important points that unsettled the hunter thoroughly. Belmont? Adrian? And... the girl had enumerated four names.

Watching her closely again, D finally understood that the bundle she carried on her back contained human number four – a baby. Fortunately, D needed not more than some seconds to compose himself again.

“How did you keep this one alive, during your travel?”, he wondered, not giving away how worried he really felt about it.

“I used magic, sir”, the girl spoke up. “But I could only do that much, and now my powers are all spent.”

“Fair enough”, D acquiesced. The children had wandered here by foot, apparently. Who knew how many days they had been on the road, unprotected, without food or a dry place for the night - and a starving baby into the bargain?

D watched them curiously for a moment. “Why have you come here?”, he asked eventually.

The girl's otherwise quite pretty features distorted, and suddenly she looked as if about to cry. “Our parents have disappeared”, she whispered, pulling one of her frightened brothers close. “We woke up one morning and they were just gone. Mommy would never leave us alone like that, never! Something has happened to her and father”, she added, and it sounded desperate.

“Sypha and Trevor Belmont”, D mumbled. It was not even meant as a question, but the girl nodded.

“You know them, sir? You know our parents?”

D decided it was too complicated to explain now. He stood in front of four half-starved, freezing children, and whoever in the world their parents might be, he knew it was his duty to look after them for now. He would see them warmed up and nourished, and only then would he go and wake Adrian. This was a matter he needed to know about. D wasn't looking forward to his lover's reaction, though.

With a gesture of his hand, he invited the small group to follow and slowly made his way towards the kitchens on the ground floor. He didn't need to turn around, he could hear and smell the children following hesitantly. The light of the girl's magical flame painted grotesque shadows on the ruinous walls that seemed to reach for them like fingers. The baby started to whine feebly.

D could smell them following, as much as he could smell their fear. It was a smell he had grown to dislike more and more over the centuries, and he had to acknowledge that on children, it smelled worst.

“Do something!”, Left Hand coaxed. “Talk to them to make them feel more at ease!”

D slowly turned his head, catching sight of the elder boy.

“You have met 'Count Alucard' before?”, he asked softly.

The boy flinched, literally jumping aside. “N-no sir!”, he panted. “It's just...”

His brother came to help: “Mom and dad kept telling us to go find him whenever something really bad would happen, and that he'd help us. That he's our friend.”

D wondered if 'mom and dad' had also told them about the way they had abandoned this friend exactly twelve years ago, or that he was a vampire's son. Only Left Hand's harrumphing stopped him from asking these questions aloud. Thank god the baby's constant mewling drowned out the sound.

After a short while, they reached the kitchen D mainly used whenever he lodged in the castle. It was not that he needed to eat, and mostly he forgot to anyway. But ignoring Adrian's most heartfelt wishes while staying in his very home was a thing his conscience forbade. D led the kids into the overstuffed place.

“There's stew in this pot on the table. Take as much as you like.” He hoped he had said that gently enough. D really wasn't comfortable dealing with humans, let alone children. He could understand how they must see him, and he hated it. “If you please, that is”, he therefore added, avoiding direct eye-contact with any of them. The baby's weeping got more and more intense, causing D's hackles to raise. But its siblings didn't pay much attention, practically throwing themselves at the food, starting to wolf it down directly from the pot.

Left Hand chuckled amusedly, but D only watched with an odd, hard-to-pin-down feeling in his heart. It was cruel to raise kids in these distracted times, he thought, and felt sorry for all the suffering life had brought to these four and still would.

The girl seemed to notice D's staring, because she stopped after a few gulps and looked up from the pot and towards him. Her mouth still full of vegetables and beans, she asked: “You don't by chance have a goat, sir? For...the milk?” She gestured with her head towards the screaming baby on her back to clarify her intentions.

D was taken aback. “No”, he answered bluntly. He pondered. “Do you want me to summon one, with magic?”

“You can do that, sir?” Her eyes went wide, and was this a blush on her cheeks?

“I don't have your magic at my disposal, young speaker. But for what I am, I have other ways to produce similar results.”

Somehow his answer seemed to make her blush even more, almost provoking a sassy comment by Left Hand, too. But before the parasite could speak up, a thick fog was spreading in the kitchen, enveloping D. Sparkles radiated from his fingertips and formed a shape. When the fog disappeared in Left Hand's mouth, in front of him a white she-goat was standing, wiggling its little tail and letting out a faint bleat.

“Wonderful!”, the girl – Oana was her name – exclaimed, hugging the animal to her chest. “Wonderful! Now we can feed Aurika properly, or at least try! Oh thank you, sir!”

She beamed at him, but D simply nodded. “I'm going to wake Count Adrian now. You'd better not leave the kitchen. Eat your fill, then wait.”

With this advice, he turned on his heels to leave the kitchen and didn't notice the absolute astonishment the mention of Adrian's name had caused on the childrens' faces.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“Congrats, ladykiller. You successfully caused another female heart to fall for you.”

D huffed in annoyance. He hadn't noticed anything that would justify that conclusion, but of course Left Hand had to torment him. A nuisance, forever.

On his way to the crypt, the sound of the nerve-wracking bawling followed D. Apparently the feeding didn't go according to plan, or the baby was already in too bad a shape. He couldn't imagine how human parents managed to bear these horrible sounds all day long. D thought he wouldn't be astonished if the noise had woken up Adrian already, and in this case, his lover certainly wondered what kind of monster had befallen him this time.

In the spacious crypt, D slid the coffin's heavy stone lid to the side just like he had done earlier. Like earlier, he looked at the sleeping dhampir, and for a moment the hunter indeed didn't know what to do next. He knew well enough that Adrian had wished to rest, and rest for a long time. Adrian would hate D for waking him up so precipitately, and as much as D was used to hate, _Adrian's_ scorn was the one thing in this world that would effortlessly eviscerate D, this much he knew. Fighting with himself, D bit his lip with one fang until it tore.

Eventually, he made a decision. He called he other dhampir's name, gently, and when that had no effect, he fought down all the self-hatred that constantly suffocated him and dared to graze these abundant golden locks with one of his fingers. He ultimately even ventured to caress Adrian's cheek, trembling with agitation.

“Adrian. Wake up.”

The dhampir was cold. Cold to an extent that wasn't the ordinary, even for their kind. In sleeping for such a long time like he had planned to, all bodily functions had basically been reduced to zero. Adrian felt as if D's quivering touch would be sufficient to make him shatter like ice.

“Fondling him won't wake a dhampir up, you should know that”, Left Hand established insensitively. But as always, he was right.

So ultimately, D lifted his hand and bit his wrist unceremoniously. Held close to Adrian's lips, the falling droplets of blood and the smell had immediate effects on the man in the coffin who, albeit still unmoving, inhaled suddenly. His lips were parting, revealing his small, sharp white fangs. A few more sniffs from his nostrils, and the younger dhampir opened his eyes.

His irises were glowing red, greedy, but his glance stayed unfocused for an instant before it settled on D who was still sitting on the coffin's edge, his hat drawn deep into his face.

“D!”, Adrian breathed, a sound of surprise, of relief and strangely also of...enchantment? D couldn't believe it. He still trembled. “D! How come you're here? What year is it?”

His voice was rough from not being used in a long time. His little tongue emerged, licking the first drop from his pale lips, then another. There weren't much, the wound on D's wrist was healing so quickly. Still, Adrian smacked and hummed in sleepy content as if D's beastly blood was milk and honey to him. He looked so lovely D thought he could drown in this sight, which was of course an embarrassing thing to think.

Suddenly, though, Adrian tensed, inhaled and rose to a sitting position. “Intruders? Who are they?” Of course he could hear them. Fast like a lightning, Adrian's sword came flying through the air, ready to attack and defend. D's powers, however, made it stop in front of his raised arm, the magic weapon not daring to strike the sacred ancestor's son.

“No danger”, D mumbled and noticed how his untroubled look and smell calmed the other man down. He snatched the sword by the handle and carefully put it aside.

“But we have a problem we need your help for”, Left Hand interjected.

Adrian glared at him, then at D. D groaned, but nodded. “Yes. You have...visitors”, he established. “They came to see you, and the matter seemed grave enough to justify waking you up. I apologize”, he added shyly. Quickly, Adrian shook his head, reaching for D's left hand and holding it affectionately.

“Finally someone who knows how to welcome me properly”, the parasite purred. “Of all of D's boyfriends, you've always been the one I liked best, pretty-pretty. But I recommend you not face our guests like this. They might believe they have a full noble in front of them.”

Adrian nodded eagerly, which made dust fall out of his locks, like stardust, startling D to the bone. He was beautiful, but one could clearly see he had been starving for years. His features were sharper than usual, his eyes lay deeper, his fangs protruded. His white shirt, trousers and cloak had become friable with time.

The blond dhampir gasped when D removed his scarf and slid the cloak aside.

“You need to feed more”, the hunter established, and despite all efforts, his pale grey cheeks coloured slightly. He tried to fight down his arousal, but Adrian's glowing irises caused his heart to race, his fangs to elongate, and D shivered in sweet anticipation when he thought about holding his lover in his arms again.

Twelve years. Even if this was nothing their lifespans considered, the end of their separation had been a prospect D's body had obviously longed for.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”, Adrian asked softly. “If you've left some of the pig's blood stocked in the cellars, I don't need to...”

He was interrupted by D's resolute answer. “I want it. To warm you up thoroughly, you need something fresh, and strong.” He gulped. “I want it. Please take it.”

Now Adrian shuddered visibly, too. He rose slowly, stiffly, to bring his clay-cold lips to D's, kissing him until D melted, then kissing a line down towards his neck. His hands caressed D's face and luxurious hair, nudging his hat off his head en passant, coming to a halt on his shoulders, under the cloak, kneading D's muscles.

Adrian was seductive. He was sin incarnate. As usual, he made D helpless, and all he could do was shiver and give in to these hands and this mouth. Then, everything went very quickly. The bite hurt deliciously, and with every greedy gulp a wave of pure pleasure flooded through D's body. It was so much better than in D's memories. It was a bliss he had craved for so long he couldn't suppress his moans, and neither could Adrian who was almost climbing into D's lap, rendered submissive by this force of nature. He was holding D's body tight, he was grinding against him, he was sucking with an intensity that made D dizzy. Adrian's whole body was singing, was calling out for D so incisively D caught it with amazement. It was arousing and wonderful.

The hunter felt he would soon come undone entirely, but there were still the children to think of! “Adrian”, D sighed, needing to gather strength to utter more words, to interrupt what he privily never wanted to end. “Adrian, we'll have...so many nights...Slow down a little, please, you'll poison yourself.” He wound his hands into the other dhampir's hair to tear his head away from his neck, though tenderly. “Adrian, please.”

His lover obliged with a groan, struggling to stop this primal urge that had taken hold of him. Carefully, he unfastened his fangs from D's neck, licking over the puncture marks languidly until they had closed themselves. He was panting from the thrill, just as was D. But he felt warm in the hunter's arms now, and he looked at him _glowing._

“Oh! Oh, this was good!”, Adrian sighed, sagging against D, kissing his collarbone where his lips had accidentally come to rest. He fought for breath, smiling. “Such a lovely thing to wake up to, D, oh my. And you have been eating. Good boy.”

D huffed, but didn't stop caressing the other man's soft locks. His aching fangs hindered him from speaking right now, his desire to bite down on something became almost unbearable. He tried to breathe calmly for some moments to make the tension in his mouth and groin lessen. In the meantime, Adrian clung to him affectionately.

“Do you feel strong enough now to meet our visitors?”, D asked after a while. “You will be surprised.”

D's heart ached like a stab wound for a second when he felt Adrian's shoulders tense under his hands. After all these years, after all they had done to him, the first thing he was thinking of was of course still _them_.

“It's not _them_ , Adrian...”

Left Hand took over before D could stop him: “ _They_ have disappeared.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, I'd like to put a warning here. In this chapter, some temporary adjustments are made to Alucard's body and I admit it's getting a little crazy. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, and I'm worried I might. So if you're uncomfortable with breastfeeding/chestfeeding and related physical issues, please listen to my words, don't read on!

“What's that caterwauling?”, Adrian asked while they floated through the corridors – hand in hand, as he had insisted, even more so when D had suddenly looked as if he wouldn't find the way to the kitchen without this measure.

“The baby. You'll see.”

“The...what?”

Adrian opened the door and recoiled against the hunter. Three children startled up from the place at the table where they were gathered to feed said baby and stared at the dhampirs with exactly the same look of shock. Even the goat froze.

“I can't believe it”, Adrian mumbled. “God father in heaven.”

These children looked exactly like he always had imagined Sypha's and Trevor's offspring to look. The girl was a younger version of the speaker with her little upturned nose, puckered lips and piercing blue eyes. The boys looked like Trevor probably had as a kid: dirty and a little dodgy, their messy hair of a darker colour, auburn.

“You're _their_ children”, Adrian stated somewhat needlessly and gulped. He felt a strange nausea and was thankful for D's rigid, comforting hand on his back. But even in this moment of consternation, Adrian remembered his education. He thought of the behavior his mother would expect of him now and ultimately managed to introduce himself with his human name, Adrian of Wallachia.

The girl was quick. She dropped the wet cloth she had made the baby suckle on and, the sibling still in her arms, rushed towards the two dhampirs. “Count Alucard!”, she exclaimed, sounding incredibly relieved. Adrian had no choice than to open his arms as soon as he felt her nuzzle against his middle. “Thank god we have found you. Now everything's gonna be okay.”

Adrian turned his head to exchange a look with D who remained in the background, his mien inscrutable. How did these children know who he was, how he looked? How come they trusted him as if he was their long-known, good uncle?

The boys caught Adrian's attention, approaching and hugging him now, too. “Mom and dad have disappeared, you have to help us find them, count Alucard!”, the younger one exclaimed, snuffling.

Adrian tried to disentangle all these arms from his waist, stooping a little to address the children more easily. “I will of course help you”, he mumbled, painfully reminded how once before in his life, he had been awoken from his sleep to do just that. “We will find a way, I'm sure. But first we have to stop this one here from crying. I can barely think in this noise.” And Adrian's features distorted in pain.

“We summoned a goat to solve that problem”, Left Hand reported. The children looked electrified. D sighed, and Adrian ignored it.

“Well, that didn't work well, it seems.”

“We tried to feed her the milk, but she won't take it. She's too feeble already”, the girl lamented while the goat bleated gently as if in confirmation. The boys' interest, however, was piqued entirely by the hunter's speaking hand and they approached him to have a look.

“Hello, boys”, Left Hand purred, somehow managing to look like a friendly grandfather, the son of a gun. “Shall I quick-freeze your hair, or would you rather I make you some soap bubbles? There's nothing I can't do”, he crowed. The young Belmonts doubtlessly believed him; they beamed at D, totally thrilled.

Adrian in the meantime sank into a chair, partly unwrapping the baby from its soiled blankets to judge its state. “She's thoroughly dehydrated”, he noted, “and very feeble already. We have to find a way to get fluids into her body, and quickly.” He looked at the desperate sister, then at D who was distracted by the boys fumbling with his hand. “I could look if I can find something useful in my mo...”, he halted, “...in the...lab. But it will take too much time, won't it, D?”

“D?” Now the boys went wild completely. “D? Really, you are D, the famous vampire hunter?” They literally jumped from excitement, still a little too scared to hug the tall man, but obviously wanting to. “We heard so much of you! You're the best!” Left Hand joined in their praise, exaggerating everything in an even more ridiculous manner.

The hunter, however, turned his attention to Adrian. “That, or...there might be another way to do it”, he whispered, his voice carrying even through the hellish noise of the crying baby and the pushy boys. Suddenly, all eyes were on him. “I don't know if you will agree to it, though”, he added.

“What are you thinking of?”, Adrian asked, wearily. D's mien made the dhampir fear for the worst.

“You are a man now, Adrian, but your body hasn't always been like this”, D established, matter-of-factly. “Moreover, you're still very young. With a little help, you could easily reverse. Then you'd be able to nourish a child.”

Adrian suddenly felt like fainting. “You're not suggesting...?”

“It would be only temporarily, until we find the mother”, D appeased, or tried to. Knowing that he wasn't very good at this, Adrian had to give him great credit for the effort.

The younger dhampir hated the original state of his body, and it didn't seem fair that he of all people should overcome his aversion to feed _their_ baby. Maybe the lab was a better idea after all, even if it would take time to prepare a sterile saline infusion... But D shook his head, slowly. Adrian stared at him, the children momentarily forgotten. Wasn't it completely unfair to wake up to be confronted with such a decision? D's traits remained stony. What was ever fair in this world?

Ultimately, Adrian rested his forehead in his hand, sighing. “Do it then, D. I see the necessity of it.”

D hesitated for a moment before he slowly approached Adrian and gingerly took his hand. The blond knew that the hunter's magic was strong, and that the sacred ancestor's blood gave him the power to cross boundaries of time and space. However, D had never showed Adrian all the things he was capable of, and if what he planned to do now felt too intimate for the blond dhampir, revealing his dark abilities surely felt too intimate for D, too.

A cloud of dark matter formed around both dhampirs while D spoke a spell in the language of the ancients, and Adrian flinched as piercing waves of fire coursed through D's fingers into his, aiming for his chest. There was a swirl of fog, of colours and of time, and Adrian clung to D for dear life. When the air cleared again, two nice, firm breasts stretched the white tissue of Adrian's decrepit v-neck shirt, barely larger than his former chiseled pecs.

The children gasped. The dhampir looked down his front in horror, covering the things quickly with his hands. The mere touch made him wince. “Oh my god”, he whispered, adding in disbelief: “They hurt.”

The girl beamed at D again, not at all embarrassed, but on the contrary, amazed. D, however, had to avert his eyes from her and Adrian, looking _very_ uncomfortable and also flustered. 

“This is wild”, Left Hand commented and for once, Adrian shared D's constant desire to chop this hand off for good.

“Hand me the baby”, Adrian mumbled defeatedly. Young Miss Belmont obliged, showing him how to hold it in the crook of his arm while Adrian somewhat clumsily rucked up his shirt, blushing. It really couldn't get any worse. “How do I even do it?”

“Hold her very close and make sure she gets as much flesh as possible into her mouth, not only the nipple. That's all”, the girl said as if describing the most normal thing in the world. It _was_ the most normal thing in the world – for Sypha. For his mother Lisa. Surely not for dhampir identifying as a man!

Adrian had got his hands full, because the baby squirmed, kicked and turned its mouth away from the offered breast again and again. Worst of all, it still screamed.

“Keep trying, she'll understand eventually”, the girl encouraged. Sadly, this didn't happen. “She's confused... It has been too long. Oh, what shall we do?”

Left Hand coughed slightly. “Come on, boys”, D grasped the nettle. “They need some quiet. I'll show you my horse.”

The boys rejoiced and, after D sent Adrian an apologetic look, followed the hunter out of the door and towards the stables. They also took the goat with them.

Adrian inhaled and nodded at the girl determinedly. “Let's not waste our time any longer. Let's use our magic.”

He could feel the girl's consent, and together they fixed their eyes and their energies on the baby, willing her to calm down and stop fighting. Although Aurika's eyes were squeezed shut, their mutual magical effort seemed to work and eventually, her frantic kicking stopped. Carefully, the child speaker touched the baby's fuzzy head and pushed it closer to Adrian's virgin breast.

“Here, silly.”

“Ouch!” Involuntarily, Adrian's fangs emerged and tears sprung into his eyes when the baby finally managed to create a vacuum, sending a piercing pain through the dhampir's breast and whole body. He tried to cover his mouth and fangs at least while still cradling the baby, overwhelmed by a sensation so strange and so physical like nothing he had ever felt before. He tried his best to suppress his nature, but he couldn't stop some tears from falling out of his eyes, and after having fed from D, they for sure were bloody ones.

“Don't worry”, the girl said, apparently not bothered by it. “I know that you're a vampire.” And she even caressed his shoulder compassionately.

“I'm not...How do you know? Why are you not afraid?”

Adrian groaned, staring at the baby's sucking mouth in disbelief and wonder. She was _their_ child, it was ruled out that she was a vampire, too – but damn did it feel like she was! She seemed to want to suck Adrian's heart out. But thankfully, whatever she did to his nipples right now would heal quickly, unlike in humans. And he didn't have a heart anyway, did he? It was Sypha who had once told him he was basically dead. _A cold spot in the room._

“You helped mum and dad defeat Dracula”, the child speaker answered and whispered in great respect: “You are the sleeping soldier of the prophecies.”

Adrian closed his eyes for a second. “This was a long time ago, girl. A very long time.” He had to forcefully tear his thoughts from the painful memories that flooded his brain once more. There was no time for these – him and the girl, they now had to figure out how to defeat whatever had taken Sypha and Trevor. “Tell me, do you remember anything strange from the days before your parents disappeared? Did they talk about something extraordinary, or did a visitor come to your place? You have to think really hard and try to remember as much details as you can, girl...”

“Oana.”

“Oana.” The dhampir sighed and noticed he found it incredibly hard to focus on a conversation while holding a suckling babe to his breast. It was actually more challenging than fighting several opponents in the darkness alone. Still, they had to find out what happened.

Oana caressed the baby's head to stop it from falling asleep and Adrian immediately (painfully) felt how the suckling intensified again.

“Well... nothing strange happened, really. We worked in the garden, cared for the animals, fixed the house... I mean, father mentioned he planned to go to see you soon, this I remember.”

Adrian tensed. “Is... that so?” This was a shock, because it meant that Trevor hadn't forgotten him completely after all. Maybe he had tried to contact Adrian some point during those 12 years, but in his slumber, he hadn't noticed? “Maybe he wanted to look for something in the Belmont Hold”, Adrian told Oana and himself.

“I don't know. I don't know anything. There were no traces of monsters near the house, no smell of vampires, either, and no magic in the air. I can feel you, and your companion D”, here she interrupted herself and blushed, “but there was nothing like this near our home. They must have left on their own accord, but why?”

The baby still moved its tongue slightly, but it had definitely fallen asleep for good and Adrian stared down at its tiny, vulnerable face instead of answering.

“She's done. Put a finger in her mouth to unlatch her, sir. When she wakes up, you can try again. Probably you'll actively have to wake her up again, though.”

Adrian looked up, startled. “But – what about the other side? I mean, I can't walk around with one breast empty and the other...full?” Jesus, it was not only full, it was even leaking! The dhampir needed to get a new shirt.

The girl just shrugged. “Unfortunately, that's how it is, sir. If the pressure becomes too hard, you can squeeze some milk out, but other than that, you just have to wait for the next session.”

Adrian felt the nausea creep into his stomach once more, but there was also a feeling of a hitherto unknown warmth. _Their_ baby was sleeping in his arms now, peacefully, fed and kept alive by him, a creature connected to death.

Often it had seemed to him that for their kind, there were no miracles left in this world, no experiences worth to go on living for. But still, every time he felt that way, something happened that pulled the rug out from under his feet again. People literally fell into his tomb and turned out to be the only friends he had ever had. Or a fabulous dhampir hunter came knocking at his door.

Maybe he really was the sleeping soldier that had to be woken to notice he was not dead. Maybe he would never be able to hide or escape, because this was his fate.


	4. Chapter 4

With four children, two hours had passed like the bat of an eye. D had taken his time introducing the Belmont boys and the goat to his cyborg horse, returning to the castle only when he could be sure Adrian had lulled the baby to sleep. Examining the returnees, Adrian had then decided the dhampirs should draw these dirty youngsters a bath, which, considering their filthy state, sounded like an act of heroism. The only problem: D was terribly afraid of moving water.

The hunter had no idea how Dracula had overcome this deep-rooted fear all vampires felt. But somehow, Vlad had managed to install magical-seeming water conduits everywhere in his castle, taps spitting the clear, fresh liquid warm or cold at a whim in all of the many bathrooms. His son miraculously seemed immune to this threat, too.

So while Adrian had led their guests into his private bathroom, D had silently taken on the other job, the one he knew his lover feared. Slowly and carefully, he had set off to the ruinous upper floors of the castle, exploring the quarters of Lisa Tepes, looking for clean childrens' clothes Adrian had told him were there somewhere.

Adrian was clearly not over his parents' deaths. They had left him on his own in a way he had never learned to be. Then _t_ _hey_ had showed up only to disappoint and abandon him, too, unaware of his fragile state and his youth, shattering his heart completely. No wonder Adrian had almost suffered a mental breakdown upon learning _they_ had named one of their sons after him. 

D wanted to protect him from more suffering and more heartbreaking facts – like the one for example that his mother had apparently kept every single one of his childhood garments. Wardrobe after wardrobe D opened, and everything he didn't even know a child could need was still stored away there safely, leaving the choice to him. The affectionate order in Lisa Tepes' wardrobes was a visual reminder of a life that Adrian had loved and lost forever, and D understood why Adrian never came here, rather letting his castle fall to ruins than face the past. When D helped the blond wrap baby Aurika in one of his white baby gowns later, the knowledge of what D had seen and what Adrian knew to be there silently passed between both men.

Eventually, the dhampirs tucked their human wards in safely in the large bed in the bedroom next to their own, reassuring them they would remain awake the whole night to guard them, supported by their powerful swords and the castle's very own magic. The kids demanded a bedtime story, of course, and with D not knowing any and Adrian still barely avoiding tears, they were relieved that Left Hand tackled this task enthusiastically. After very little of the flowery, tortuous nonsense the parasite passed off as myths of the Barbaroi, the Belmont heirs were peacefully snoring away, their quiet breaths filling the cold castle walls with a human presence D had never before thought it lacked. The dhampirs and the parasite then retreated to Adrian's private chamber next door, taking baby Aurika with them.

Soon after, the little one was latched onto Adrian's breast again, the dhampir feeding her reclining on his bed. D, after checking on the snoring Belmont children once more, stood in the doorframe silently, watching his lover. He was no sleeping statue any longer, no dear but fleeting memory. Awake and tangible he lay there in his frilled blouse and golden hair: the one creature that let a monster touch him on the outside and on the inside. That had easily taken to enunciating his corruption of a name like an endearment. Him. After an eternity of hatred: him.

D could poke the inside of his cheek with his fang as hard as he wanted – the feeling he had for this man remained, it was _real._ Was it Adrian's youth that attracted him so, D wondered? For him, centuries passed like dragonfly glimpses. Adrian, however, was still in the range of a mortal's life span. Maybe this was what made him look and act so captivatingly human? It might also be that his peculiar, endearing softness originated from being conceived, born and raised lovingly by a human mother – instead of being an experimental bastard child bred in a subterranean research facility, a curiosity, created in the name of science, a mere number in a long list of failures...

“I'd be much more comfortable if you'd not just stand and stare, but lie down next to me instead, D.”

The hunter flinched. Of course, his manners. He had forgotten them again because of his unrewarding bitterness. When would he ever learn to change his ways? Wanting to make up for it, D slowly removed his hat and put it on top of Adrian's magnificent dresser, together with his scarf and cloak. He undid his combat utility belt, put his sword against the wall where Adrian's already leaned. Touching, the weapons started to glow in mutual approval, spreading a faint red light in the half-dark. It was a scene Adrian would call 'sweet'.

D settled on the edge of the large canopy bed, shuffling off his boots and listening to the strange noises the baby made during its meal, to Adrian's soft little shushing words. The blond did very well, D found. But he also knew out of experience that the act of feeding someone was precious and intimate and didn't tolerate intruders. After all, it was not only the arrival of the Belmont kids and the associated memories of Trevor and Sypha that overwhelmed Adrian. He also had new bodily features to deal with.

But Adrian was a half-vampire. Did D have to explain to him that for their fathers' kind, the concept of gender didn't exist, never had? Adrian should know that eternity was too long to fix oneself to mortal categories like male or female, and like D, he should have witnessed nobles switch their states by magic or even stay out of them completely. The fact considered that vampires and even some dhampirs were able to shapeshift into various animal forms, a change of sex was really no big deal.

Accordingly, it hurt to see Adrian struggle with it, and D wanted to give him the reassurance and comfort Adrian deserved from a... a lover, yes. Of course D had never even told Adrian he loved him in the first place. The hunter blushed when he reclined at Aurika's other side now, careful not to squeeze her or hit her with his pendant, overly aware of his strength, his claws... Adrian's eyes just seemed to mirror his awkwardness, so D focused on the little human instead. He couldn't remember having been so close to one ever before. They really were like helpless little animals, so breakable, so vulnerable...

The baby suckled restlessly, letting go of Adrian's breast again and again, whining and kicking and generally making way too much noise for D's taste.

“I don't know what to do any more”, Adrian sighed. “In the kitchen it worked, but right now she simply won't drink properly. Maybe this milk of mine is just no good?” The beautiful dhampir paused in the realization of something. “Oh my god, it's not bloody, is it?”

“Relax, dearie”, Left Hand soothed, right on cue. “The bloody milk is an old wives tale. Not even the nobles have it. I bet the real reason is that human babies are imprinted on their mothers, and you are not her, so she's confused. Or she's still too feeble and too tired. Or she's sick...”

“We need to figure it out, Lefty. We need to pep her up quickly, because we have to find her parents!”

“Then”, D ventured, “blood might not be a bad idea.” And although he hated the mere fact, he elaborated: “Ours can provide great strength when fed to humans.”

Adrian gasped. “She's a baby, D. We can't just feed her our blood as if she were one of us, you know.”

“Not his, pretty-pretty, that's for sure”, Left Hand clarified. “But yours might do the trick. One drop only, and you'll see how she revives. Or should we rather say, one tiny tear?”

Adrian groaned. Then he looked at D quizzically with his wide eyes. “D, shall we do this? Is this not risky?”

D understood what was on Adrian's mind. If he would feed Aurika his blood, then they would be connected for the human's whole life. Such bond of blood was the strongest bond a vampire could form, and it was irreversible. It was highly doubtful that Sypha and Trevor would agree to something like this. But then, they had disappeared, and they could be happy that after their betrayal, Adrian was willing to care for their kids at all. If a baby was supposed to make it in a world full of vampires and monsters, they both should provide it with everything they could.

Adrian seemed to understand. Slowly, he reached over the baby's body with his right arm and caressed D's milky cheek, steadying and basically mesmerizing him with the soulful look of his golden eyes. “D... I know we planned differently, but it feels strangely good to be with you again”, he whispered. “It was a stroke of luck you were here in the castle when the kids showed up, too. Hm, but tell me... why exactly were you here? Don't tell me 'just a coincidence'? You weren't paying me a visit here, by chance?”

D felt like paralyzed under Adrian's cool hands and also seen through. “I had work in Wallachia”, he managed to mumble.

“Work?”

To D's relief, Lefty took over: “There were occurences with vampires. He killed them.”

“Do you think these 'occurences' and _their_ disappearing might be related?”

D didn't know. If one would have asked him his name right now, he wouldn't have known, either. He was in love with the most beautiful creature he had ever met, they were reunited again and were about to form an eternal bond with what would then be their version of a daughter – a child they could never beget in any natural way. It was all too much to process. D longed for guidance.

Softly, Adrian was sliding his thumb between D's parting lips right now to gently massage his gums. D gasped at this delicious sensation, his aching fangs sliding down to their full length without further ado. D felt his eyes grow red, and he didn't want to admit that it wasn't their bond with Aurika that he was thinking about right now.

“Oh D, you're not jealous, are you? Remember, I fed from you earlier, so she'll have the bond with both of us”, Adrian whispered. “This way, she'll have both our protection, always. We're doing this together.” Adrian went on caressing D's cheek, but now his eyes turned red, too – and he didn't even bother. D closed his eyes. He was shivering when Adrian's finger pressed against his fang until the flesh tore, and when his lover's sweet blood trickled into his mouth, it required incredible strength to let Adrian's finger go long enough to spare a drop for Aurika. 

Adrian fed her from his finger, and she really seemed to calm down. She stopped her kicking, her crying faded to a whine. Adrian latched her to his breast again, and lo and behold, it worked. Only then D claimed the hesitantly bleeding thumb back for his own mouth, driven half mad by the new, sweet tang Adrian's blood suddenly possessed. It was still unmistakably his lover's, but there was something more to it now, something intriguing...

Images of D's mother assaulted his brain, the sound of her soft, dark voice when she said his name in his dreams and begged him to forgive her, to come and find her. D felt himself carried away by this familiar hallucination, and maybe he was the one crying now. He didn't care, he just surrendered. He felt complete although he knew something was missing: his sadness. For some precious moments, it was just gone.

When he came to a while later, his look fell upon a sleeping Aurika, flanked by his own chest and a white wolf's warm body on the other side.

“Ah, welcome back among the living and the undead”, Lefty bantered. “While you were in the arms of Morpheus, I realized that the reason she cried maybe was just that she was, you know, cold! Thank God Adrian found a quick and easy solution to warm her up.”

Cold, of course! They were both dhampirs, it made sense that as a human, Aurika had been freezing next to them all the time. The wolf moved suddenly and folded one paw over Aurika's little body in a hug, almost burying the peaceful baby in his fur. With a naive look in its amber eyes, the animal started to whine and only stopped when D reached over and let it lick his hand. Of course, Adrian-wolf also wagged its tail now, beating it against the mattress in rhythmic thuds.

“It's all right, Adrian, it's all right”, D whispered soothingly, and he had to admit that the wolf's fur and warmth felt comforting for him, too, adding to the strange feeling of security the blood and the dream had brought. And only now when it was just an animal to hear his words, he dared to say them aloud: “I love you, too.”

  
  



End file.
